


Bridge

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [66]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Nonbinary Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 22:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20514578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: Roxas comes into the Usual Spot all kinds of down in the dumps. Hayner isn't going to let that stand.





	Bridge

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of those things i wish we'd been able to put more foreshadowing into tbh, but it was only recently i realised i'd completely neglected poor Pretzel Boys in favour of my beloved NamXi. Sorry Roxas

Despite having been officially absorbed into their friend group, Roxas is in and out a lot. 

Hayner doesn’t mind, after all if _ he _ had magic world traversing powers and a spaceship he probably wouldn’t be around much either. 

And okay, maybe he _ does _ mind a little bit, after all, where’s _ his _ life changing field trip into space? The fact that Roxas hasn’t once offered to take Hayner off world is a little irritating. 

It’s fine though. 

Totally.

Occasionally Roxas will just disappear for a week or two, and then come back with all sorts of crazy stories. Like the time he vanished only to come back having suddenly turned into a were (somehow this was Sora’s fault, but given Hayner did not even slightly understand the whole ‘other half’ business, he’s not sure how), or the time Roxas’ brother almost died (he’d been pretty morose all that week, and Hayner had ended up pulling some spectacularly stupid stunts trying to cheer him up), or the time two of his parents mysteriously went missing while out on a date only to be found several days later lost in some underground cave system (Hayner thinks that’s a ballsy idea for a date and respects that). 

The point was, it wasn’t uncommon for Roxas to not come by for a few days. 

Honestly it just makes the time they do have together all the sweeter. 

Being told this boy, who apparently wasn’t supposed to exist, had made friends with an alternate version of him was… well it was weird at first, but his heart went out to this unknown kid, smiling in their group of friends that he’d never met. He could only imagine what it must be like, to have everything you believe ripped away like that. It was only fair that they at least meet, and if they developed a friendship of their own then all the better. 

And develop one did. 

It hadn’t taken long for Hayner to see why the other him liked Roxas. They got on well right off the bat, laughing and joking quickly despite the awkward tension. It wasn’t long before they were calling each other Friends for real. 

So when Roxas comes in to the usual spot after more than two weeks absence and sits heavily on the ratty old couch, Hayner, Pence, and Olette exchange a glance. 

“Is everything okay?” Olette asks gently. Roxas looks up at her, and Hayner feels his heart clench at just how tired he looks. 

“You’d tell me if I was hurting you guys, right?”

“What’s that about?” Hayner scoffs. “Of course we would.”

“Did something happen?” Pence asks, leaning over to get a better look at Roxas. Roxas shrugs. 

“I’ve been hurting Xion.” He mumbles. Olette frowns. 

“That doesn’t sound like you.” She protests. Roxas shakes his head. 

“I didn’t mean to. I was trying to keep them safe, after everything… I just didn’t want anything to happen to them again. But apparently I was smothering them instead. There was a big blowup over it last night.”

“Oh no.” Olette winces. Hayner tilts his head. 

“I’m not sure I get it. You were keeping them safe, how does that hurt them?”

“No I think I understand.” Pence leans back, thinking. “You weren’t just keeping them safe were you? You were going overboard.”

Roxas nods miserably. 

Hayner still doesn’t get it, but it’s clear he doesn’t have the whole story and lets it go. Obviously Xion wouldn’t make this sort of thing up, he didn’t hang with them often but he knew they were the honest sort, so whatever this was, it had to be some kind of bad mixup. 

“I did think it was a little weird you got so… fretful that time we were trying out the new skateboard and they took that fall, but I didn’t want to say anything.” Olette admits. 

Hayner remembers that. Xion had face planted hard and ended up with a bloody nose. Roxas had swooped in with an overpowered curaga before anyone else could even react, and had clung to their side the rest of the afternoon. 

It _ was _ a bit overboard, and yet Hayner was a touch jealous anyway. He couldn’t help it, Roxas and Xion were all but attached at the hip, sue him for wanting Roxas to himself once in a while. 

Roxas looks at Olette with wide eyes and Hayner wonders if he’s fighting back tears. 

That won’t do at all. 

“Let’s go get ice cream.” He blurts, leaping up. 

Roxas at him, confused. 

“I can’t fix this with ice cream.”

Hayner shakes his head. 

“No dummy, I’m not trying to fix it, I just can’t stand seeing you all sad like this. So we’re gonna get some ice cream, climb the tallest thing we can find, and hang out. You in?”

Roxas shakes his head, but there’s a grin forming on soft, reluctant lips. 

Hayner drags his gaze away from those lips before his brain can go too far down the rabbit hole and marches out of the usual spot, goal in mind. 

“Hayner wait up!” He hears Olette complain, followed by Roxas’ laughter. 

Music to his ears. 

They get their ice cream and climb the clock tower like usual, and by the time they get there Roxas almost seems to be his usual self again, laughing and joking with the rest of them. He’s still a little subdued but Hayner counts it as a win anyway. 

It’s late into Twilight Town’s famous sunset when Olette and Pence call it quits. 

“The debate team is meeting up early tomorrow.” Pence stretches. “I want to get some sleep before then.”

“Same.” Olette nods. “These five am wake-ups for marathon training are killer.”

"Goodnight, Roxas. I hope everything with Xion turns out okay." Pence and Olette wave as they retreat.

“Okay, see you.” Roxas waves then off before turning to Hayner, who hasn’t moved. “You’re not going?”

“Nah, it’s the off season for Struggle. I don’t have anything going on.” He pauses, chewing on his next words half a second before saying them. “Besides, even if I did, I'd rather be right here.”

Roxas chuckles. 

“Thanks.”

They watch the sunset, ice cream long gone. 

Roxas goes back to being quiet and pensive. 

“This whole thing with Xion really got you down, huh?” Hayner comments. Roxas sighs. 

“Sorry.”

“Dude don’t be sorry.” Hayner says. “I won’t say I like seeing you down like this but you don’t gotta hide from me.”

Okay maybe not his smoothest line, but the sentiment was there.

“It’s just.. I’m scared of losing them again. I know they’re strong, I know exactly how much they can take, but it’s like I stop thinking when they get hurt.” Roxas says, lifting his head to look up at the slowly darkening sky. 

“Sounds like you need to learn to let that stuff go.”

Roxas looks away sharply, and though Hayner knows he can be somewhat blunt, it feels like a strange reaction. 

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Silence. 

“Yknow,” Hayner continues, “we’ve been friends for a while now, but I still feel like I don’t know the whole story.” 

“No one does.” Roxas says. “Or they didn’t. I had to tell Axel this morning. He was so upset.”

“Upset? Why would he be upset?”

“Because I was the one who killed Xion.”

“What?” Hayner is taken aback. That doesn’t sound right at all. Roxas curls up, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them tightly. 

“I did.”

“..._ Why?” _ Is all Hayner can think to ask. It sounds so out of character for this fiercely loyal, protective friend he’s made, he can’t understand it. 

Bit by bit, Roxas speaks, tells him about the organization, about how he’d met Xion, how they’d both been lied to, manipulated, and shoved into roles none of them had asked for. 

He talks about how Axel had broken his trust, how he’d fought Saïx to leave, and feeling lost and alone, how he’d come to this very clock tower. 

Where Xion, caught in their own inescapable path of someone else’s creation, had coerced him into murdering them. 

Hayner watches the tears run as Roxas recounts his story, feeling his own gather in his eyes, but he doesn’t know what to do. 

“They died in my arms. I keep telling myself it’s okay now, they’re fine, but I can’t make myself believe it. What if it’s not fine? What if I lose them again and this time they can’t come back?” Roxas scrubs at his cheeks, trying to wipe away the evidence of his fear, but more fall too fast. 

“That’s… that’s heavy, man.” Is all Hayner can say. Had Roxas been dealing with this the whole time? He can’t even imagine. “That’s really fucked up.”

To his surprise, Roxas barks out a laugh, sharp and a little brittle. 

“It really is. So I got overprotective because I’m terrified of losing them again, only to find out I’ve been hurting them this whole time.” Roxas is smiling, but he still looks like he’s in pain. “What kind of person does that?”

“A human one.” Hayner knows the answer to that one at least. “So you fucked up. I’ve fucked up probably a dozen different ways just this week. It _ happens, _ dude. Just like, learn from it or whatever.”

Roxas blinks at him, and Hayner flushes under the scrutiny. 

“Or don’t, I’m not your dads.”

Roxas chuckles, leaning against his shoulder just slightly. 

“Thanks, Hayner.” He says quietly. 

“No prob.” Hayner answers, trying for deliberate coolness and hoping Roxas can’t hear how fast his pulse is right now. 

They stay like that for a while, and some foolish part of Hayner’s heart wishes it could last forever. 

Until his stomach rumbles loudly, breaking the peaceful quiet rudely. 

Roxas jerks back in surprise with a laugh. 

“All that ice cream wasn’t enough?” He asks, socking his shoulder playfully. Hayner pouts, crossing his arms. 

“I didn’t eat lunch okay, leave me alone.” 

“C’mon,” Roxas stands. “It’s Lea’s turn to make dinner tonight and he’s always late. If we hurry we can probably get there in time.”

“Oh do I finally get to meet your family other than Xion?” Hayner teases as he accepts Roxas’ hand up. 

“Only if you’re not a slowpoke.” Roxas returns with a cocky grin that makes Hayner’s heart do backflips. 

Then Roxas leaps off the side of the clock tower and runs down its walls. Like a cheater.

“Hey no fair!” Hayner calls out, but is answered only by Roxas’ laugh. 

He grins and runs for the stairs. 

Roxas wins, of course, and Hayner shakes off the sting to his pride by reminding himself that Roxas was, in layman’s terms, OP as hell. Hayner catches up to him in front of the bar, panting roughly. Roxas doesn’t even look out of breath, the bastard. 

The other boy grins at him as he approaches before his expression falls again. 

Not that Hayner can begrudge him for it, he’s got a lot going on, but he’s starting to feel like he’s on a roller coaster. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks anyway, because he’s a good friend dammit, no matter what Seifer says. 

“Xion said they forgave me but..”

“Cool, then let’s go eat, I’m starving.” Hayner interrupts. No wallowing in uncertainty on _ his _ watch. He tries to grab Roxas by the arm to drag him inside and ends up grabbing his hand instead. 

_ Just roll with it. _He tells himself even as he screams internally the whole time. Roxas doesn’t seem to notice, and Hayner flip-flops between thankful and disappointed. 

They make their way upstairs and are met at the top by a somewhat surprised Comet. 

“Oh! Hayner, right?”

“Uh yeah. Comet?” He’s met them a few times, mostly as the ice cream vendor, but it wasn’t hard to put two and two together when Roxas mentioned his ren’s name.

“Got it in one.” They smile. “Did you come for dinner? Lea should be just finishing up.”

“As long as he hasn’t burnt it again.” Roxas grumbles, prompting Comet to laugh. 

“Isa’s in there with him, so I promise unburnt food tonight. Xion and Van are up in their rooms, could you get them for me while I set the table?” Comet asks, and Roxas nods, tugging Hayner towards a second set of stairs. 

Despite the hesitance Hayner can feel in Roxas, he knocks on the door to his and Xion’s room without prompting. 

They’re sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk, and look up as Roxas knocks. 

“Hey.” He calls, fidgeting awkwardly. “Ren says dinner is almost ready.”

“Okay.” They answer, standing. 

“Okay.” Is all he can seem to think to say in turn, turning away before he’s stopped by Xion’s hand on his arm. 

They pull him into a quick, tight hug before releasing him with a smile and turning towards the den. 

Hayner watches a tentative smile show on Roxas’ face, and he seems a little bit lighter than he did before. _ Good _, he thinks. 

The two continue onward, and Roxas is much less hesitant knocking on this door. 

“Van, dinner!” He calls, and Hayner hears a grumble come from inside. 

“You know it’d be faster to use the heart connection-“ the door opens, and Hayner jolts. 

“It’s you!” He points accusingly. The other boy, Vanitas, jerks back and then recognizes him. 

“What the-“

“You’re the jerk who broke my arm!”

“Wait he did what?” Roxas’ head swings between the two of them, bemused. Vanitas flushes angrily. 

“I wouldn’t have had to if you’d kept your hands to yourself!”

“I missed the preliminaries for the Struggle last year because of you!”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t go around grabbing people!”

The two are all but ready to fight, nose to nose, when Roxas shoves his way between them. 

“Guys calm down!” He shouts. 

The other two freeze, looking wide eyed at Roxas’ outburst. He takes a deep breath and turns to Vanitas. 

“You broke his arm?”

Vanitas shrugs. 

“Didn’t know I broke it actually. Most people yell more when something breaks.” He looks away, not quite shamefaced but close. Roxas turns his gaze to Hayner. 

“This was last spring right? When you had the cast and wouldn’t stop bitching about the tournament.”

Hayner nods. He remembers doing a lot of complaining about the ‘jerk in black’ too, though thankfully Roxas doesn’t mention it. 

“I apologized.” Vanitas huffs. Hayner sneers. 

“Yeah ‘cause your Ren made you.”

Vanitas clenches his fists, and Roxas shoves his way between them again. 

“Look can’t we just.. move on?” He says, sounding a little desperate. 

Hayner looks him in the eye and suddenly remembers just what Roxas has been dealing with the last few days. His petty grudge abruptly seems very small in comparison. 

“Sorry man.” He straightens from his almost fight ready stance, looking around him to meet Vanitas’ gaze. “Yo, we cool?”

Vanitas makes a face, but flicks his gaze once to Roxas, and then nods. 

“Yeah we… cool.”

“Great.” Roxas sighs in relief. “Can we go eat now?”

They make their way downstairs, where Hayner is introduced to Isa, who seems a little lame but at least he doesn’t look ready to bite his head off like Vanitas is. Lea he’s met before, if only briefly. 

Hayner is worried it might be tense, between everything with Roxas and Xion, and now suddenly him and Roxas’ brother, but surprisingly it’s not. The adults keep a steady flow of conversation, and the kids avoid any of the recent conflicts as topics. And despite the warnings of Lea being prone to burning things, dinner is delicious. 

Then again, neither of Hayner’s mothers had ever really figured out cooking, so perhaps he’s biased. 

He thanks them all for the meal and drops his plates off in the kitchen with everyone else. He starts to offer to help clean, but before he can Vanitas has already shoved past him and started doing it himself, taking up what looks like a familiar position next to Comet. 

Hayner retreats. 

He’s stopped just past the doorway, very nearly running into Roxas, who was on his way in. 

“Sorry.” Hayner laughs. “Not how I planned bumping into you.”

“What, you plan that?” Roxas chuckles, nudging him playfully. 

They giggle helplessly in front of the nearly closed door for a moment. It’s not that funny, but somehow it gets them anyway. 

“Vanitas!” Comets voice is slightly raised from in the kitchen, not angry but certainly stern, causing both boys to quiet and edge closer to the door, blatantly eavesdropping. 

“What? I don’t like him.” Vanitas protests. He can _ just _catch Comet heave a heavy sigh. 

“I know, you can hold a grudge. Just be nice, I think Roxas is sweet on him, and I don’t want you running Hayner off over a mistake from a year ago.”

Hayner’s head whips toward Roxas, who has gone a shade of red usually reserved for tomatoes. 

Roxas opens his mouth, emits something like a squeak, and then turns heel to walk away. 

_ Oh hell no _, Hayner thinks, jerking forward to grab Roxas’ hand before he can run. 

“You- boy? Really?”

Clearly his brain or his mouth have stopped functioning. He's not sure which, but his hand holds tight on Roxas' so good enough.

“I mean. Uh. I-“

Roxas somehow gets what he’s asking anyway though and nods, hesitant. 

“Y-yeah. I guess. Kinda. It’s no big deal though really.” He tries to deflect, not quite able to look Hayner in the eye. 

The smile that blooms across Hayner’s face is slow, but wide. He tugs Roxas back, wrapping him in a tight hug. 

“Man I was starting to think I was dropping all those hints for nothing.”

He feels Roxas tense for a moment and then relax as his words hit him. He pulls back, eyes wide, searching Hayner’s face as if looking for the lie. 

Teeth clack as Roxas suddenly surges forward, pressing his lips to Hayner’s in a clumsy approximation of a kiss. It’s rough and not at all romantic when Hayner tastes the metal from a probably split lip, but it couldn’t be more perfect to him. 

Roxas pulls back, still flushing, stammering apologies. 

“Fuck sorry- I-“

“Shut up man.” Hayner laughs, pulling him back in for another. He pulls back after what feels like an eternity. 

“Wanna go somewhere your parents aren’t gonna walk in on us and talk about it?” He suggests. Roxas’ flushed grin, tiny smear of blood on one edge and all, is wonderful. 

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lea flicks condoms at them on their way out, because he's a shit disturber. no they don't get up to anything... yet. teenage boys are teenage boys and pretty randy at pretty much all times lol
> 
> Comet probably has a bit of a talk with Van about hypocrisy later. He's trying, he just has a tendency to latch onto things (both good and bad)


End file.
